Welcome to my Log of this Program, would like to acknowledge special thanks to Modok and Cephalic Carnage for their kindness towards me as i am a complete beginner as evidenced by my weights below, though i hope over time to bring them to respectable levels.

Below is a message from Dave Tate, i read it by sheer accident and i think is one of the best summaries of life there is around.

Wish good training and good results to all.

If you sit on your ass and expect things to happen - you're wrong. They won't. Nobody will give you anything - you have to work and earn it. People also don't give a shit about what you say you will do. Hell, you will be lucky if they give a shit after you do it.

The bottom line is a weight will not move without effort. You can always lift light shit with little effort but expect the same in return (little reward). Straining harder will require more effort and risk but the return will be higher.

Still nobody will give a shit so make sure your doing it for the right reasons.

Interesting when you think about it. Nobody does really give a shit (except those who are very close to us and that's still a maybe) yet when faced with criticism people get pissed. To get pissed about this means an assumption has been made that someone did give a shit in the first place. The assumption is wrong so why care about something that they don't care about in the first place?

The only one who needs to care is YOU. My question would be if you can't handle the work, strain, stress, pressure, etc than maybe you really don't give a shit either because if you did you would be too busy trying to get better.

Also Mr. Tate:

An athlete must have different personalities. You have one personality thats strictly for the gym. This is the crazy beast that must be locked up and confined for workouts. You cant let this personality out of the cage (real world) because you most definitely will end up in a cage or jail Some people just have two personalities, gym and life; I have six now that I stopped taking my medication.

Courtesy of "PaulieD" from the AD thread !

You should be chasing strength and muscle mass.And you should 'chase' those qualities aggressively.

The stronger you are, the more muscle mass you can potentially build.The more muscle mass you carry, the more energy you burn at rest -AND work AND 'play.'The more energy you burn (ya with me yet?)....the more that energy could potentially come from fat stores.

So unless you're just a butterball (no offense, jus' sayin') -you really should be focused on building strength and muscle mass.

A recent study out of Stanford University found that strength and muscle mass were the two leading indicators for longevity and health.

Set 1: 45kg * 15 (REALLY hard, had to pause at the top loads of times to try get some strength)Set 2: 45kg * 10 (Foolishly tried to re-do the weight as you can see no hope !)Set 3: 42.5kg * 12 (Had to stop alot at the top again is this allowed or is it meant to be a fluid motion ?)

EZ Bar Curls:

Warmup Sets: Bar *8, Bar+5kgs *8

Set 1: +10kg * 12 (HA no hope of another unless i swung it up standing there willing it up and my arms were useless)Set 2: +7.5kg * 14 (So close !)Set 3: +7.5kg *9, (Dropped down to +5kg for another 3 reps and no hope after that !)

HS Calf Raise:

Set 1: 50kg * 15 (AHA Oh my god after the 9th rep my calfs felt on fire i just kept saying ow ow ow ow ow untill i got to 15)Set 2: 55kg * 12 (Ya thought i was able to go up missed the last 3 the calfs just bailed on me)Set 3: 55kg * 12 (Yip im silly, but i tried :P)

Set 1: 45kg * 15 (REALLY hard, had to pause at the top loads of times to try get some strength)Set 2: 45kg * 10 (Foolishly tried to re-do the weight as you can see no hope !)Set 3: 42.5kg * 12 (Had to stop alot at the top again is this allowed or is it meant to be a fluid motion ?)

Hmm, should be fine.

EZ Bar Curls:

Warmup Sets: Bar *8, Bar+5kgs *8

Warm up protocol for this program is 1-2 sets at 50 percent of working weight (do 5 reps per set there or so), 1(-2) sets at 75 percent of working weight (again, I'd say around 5 reps). At your strength levels, stick to 1*50percent*5, 1*75percent*5 for the beginning and add warm-ups once you feel the need

Set 1: +10kg * 12 (HA no hope of another unless i swung it up standing there willing it up and my arms were useless)Set 2: +7.5kg * 14 (So close !)Set 3: +7.5kg *9, (Dropped down to +5kg for another 3 reps and no hope after that !)

HS Calf Raise:

Set 1: 50kg * 15 (AHA Oh my god after the 9th rep my calfs felt on fire i just kept saying ow ow ow ow ow untill i got to 15)Set 2: 55kg * 12 (Ya thought i was able to go up missed the last 3 the calfs just bailed on me)Set 3: 55kg * 12 (Yip im silly, but i tried :P)

And so concludes Day 1, back tomorrow (oh dear)

Before you go squat (or whatever) tomorrow, make sure to get your form right, watch some vids on the matter etc... (check intensemuscle.com)

Warm up protocol for this program is 1-2 sets at 50 percent of working weight (do 5 reps per set there or so), 1(-2) sets at 75 percent of working weight (again, I'd say around 5 reps). At your strength levels, stick to 1*50percent*5, 1*75percent*5 for the beginning and add warm-ups once you feel the need

Before you go squat (or whatever) tomorrow, make sure to get your form right, watch some vids on the matter etc... (check intensemuscle.com)

HA @ my strength levels Give me time !

As for squatting there are some good trainers in my gym, they all train College Athletes in a seperate section but you can go in and ask, they are different from the 1 Day Course Instructors who as a complete beginner look better than them !

But then the major difference in squatting technique is WEIGHT so i might get one of them to review it in a few weeks.

Hmm.You want to get to failure in the desired rep range in this program. Hey, why not start a bit light in general, underestimate yourself at first, you can after all quickly work up in weight. Besides, things are going to get a lot more difficult during week 2 and 3 with shorter rest periods and more sets... All I mean is, underestimate yourself at first, then adjust, and then you have your baselines which you want to beat.

2)Is it ok to ramp upwards if my 1st set is to low or do i always go down.

Sure you can ramp up if the first set is too light.

3)If i get the target reps on Set 1, do i still drop the weight for Set 2 or do i try go again ?

If you get, say, 15 (out of 13-15) on set 1, you could keep the weight (if the rest-period is 3 minutes or so). If rest is shorter, I'd lower it some. Then again, this depends a bit on the individual and on the rep-range. If you're doing 3x5-7 with 3+ mins of rest... You can possibly do all three sets at the same weight successfully (energy system used there replenishes faster than what you use for 13-15 reps, but never mind that kind of stuff now.)

4)Can i add more food (never thought id say it) or will i just make do ?

If you feel hungry, add food... How many cals are you getting in and how much do you weigh now?Also, 2 grams protein per lb of bodyweight... Or AT LEAST 1.5.

If you get, say, 15 (out of 13-15) on set 1, you could keep the weight (if the rest-period is 3 minutes or so). If rest is shorter, I'd lower it some. Then again, this depends a bit on the individual and on the rep-range. If you're doing 3x5-7 with 3+ mins of rest... You can possibly do all three sets at the same weight successfully (energy system used there replenishes faster than what you use for 13-15 reps, but never mind that kind of stuff now.) -----If you feel hungry, add food... How many cals are you getting in and how much do you weigh now?Also, 2 grams protein per lb of bodyweight... Or AT LEAST 1.5.

Allright so if its high reps low rest down the weight, low reps high rest keep the weight... over simplified i know but it will do.

I weigh 187 now i've always been around this weight my nutrition is above im getting 1.5g of protein per lb (if not more) and over 120g of good Fats.

But thank you for the advise im going to go ahead and eat something

And again, thank you for your time and posts they are much appreciated, especially for a beginner like me. You have saved me alot of time, and potential loss of gains if i had to work it out on my own !

Close Grip Bench Press:

Again WELL impressed last week all the starting weights were hard now im booting WAY up !

Back Squat:

Warmup Sets: Bar *5, 30kg *5, 50kg *5

Set 1: 80kg *15 (Thought i was buried the last rep somehow got back up !!)(ps; LOOK at my weight LOL last week 60*8 was bloody well hard)Set 2: 82.5 *13 (Dunno what i was thinking adding weight ! My legs were SHAKING !!)Set 3: 80kg *11 (Yip i tanked lol, no bloody hope after Rep 11, my legs were shaking like God know's what and i could barely get air in !)

Abs:

Abs are friggin rediculas lol omg OW !

So ends the Endurance Cycle of this Week next onto Strength 10-12 reps tomorrow (agh)Endurance is well tiring, at the start the 2 minutes rest seems AGES by the time Excercise 3 comes around i'm thinking OMG how's it so fast

But i'm well improving, well delighted with my excercises i added what seems ALOT of weight for more reps since last week, look forward to a Years time to my numbers then LOL.